i/o error

[AllYourBase]

My USB memory stick drive stopped working today. yesterday it was fine. The problem is this: I cannot 'explore' it to access the files on it, though windows knows it is there when I plug it in and remove it.
It seems to be full when I access the 'properties' section under my computer, though that only comes from the information section. If I have accidently filled it to the limit, is there any way I can retireve the contents? At the moment All I get is i/o error when I try to explore it, making all the data on it useless. Please help!

[simsfreq]

First of all try accessing it on a different computer before you panic too much ^_^

Filling it to the limit shouldn't stop you from exploring it.

It sounds like there is a corrupt file on the drive.

Incidentally, when you remove it from your computer do you just pull it out? If you do this can corrupt your files and cause errors.

If you are removing it properly, I don't know how the file got corrupted but if you visit a local computer shop the staff may be able to help you.

[Kerplunk]

Insert the drive and run chkdsk on it. Assuming you are using windows XP:

Go to start --> run

Type cmd

Type chkdsk driveletter: /r

This will check your disk for bad sectors and try and recover data.

[martinjr]

My guess is that the files will not be recovered, sorry! It happened to me twice by inserting the memory stick while the PC is booting up.